Paella! Another incredible evening with a lovely group of ladies. Paella is one of those dishes that is naturally low in calories, good for you and a beautiful presentation. I taught all the little tricks from stock preparation, to choosing your seafood. The end product was a delicious dish with a presentation that will "wow" your crowd.

To start off the class, we made a mint infused grapefruit sorbet. This was a natural menu option because my grapefruit trees are laden with fruit and I'm seriously over run with them and fresh mint! On warm summer evenings, this dessert is a winner. Its very easy to prepare and can be done days ahead of time. 

The arugula Spanish salad with marcona almonds was tasty and fresh- Just what you need to accompany a seafood dish such as paella-and topped with arugula sprouts, it tastes even better. You can purchase them at any farmers market or even whole foods sometimes.

Lastly, the technique of paring citrus for our citrus, avocado and fennel salad is a skill you can use anytime. The peeled orange and blood orange slices, topped with fennel from my garden are so refreshing! This is a great salad to remember if you serve a heavy dish and need something light to cleanse your pallet afterwards.

All and all, a wonderful evening, great food and lots of fun. Thank you ladies!

Sounds crazy, right? After all, Monday has to be the most disliked day of the week. But yesterday, I attended an amazing cycling class at Rush Indoor Cycling studio in Carmel Valley. These are  SoulCycle type classes where your instructor is also a motivational speaker-know what I mean? So, I always take this with a grain of salt and realize it's a better alternative than the drill sergeant type instructors that I suffer at other places.  I listened to great music, partied on my bike and cycled away. Meanwhile,  I listened as the instructor, Stephanie, screamed out how wonderful we are and that we are here for a purpose, etc., etc. It could be distracting sometimes, but yesterday Stephanie finally got to me. While cycling at a high gear and sweating my but off, she says, "everyday is Monday, don't wait until Monday to change your life. Start now!" This statement was meant to motivate me to work harder, and it worked!

After the class I really gave that statement some thought-enough to write about it. How many times have I said, "on Monday I will write that letter, on Monday I will try to eat less salt, on Monday I will start a new exercise routine...." and on and on.  It was a form of procrastination for me. Now, I'm telling myself today is MONDAY no matter what day it is. Thank you Stephanie!